2020 Week 3
October 13, 2020
Boy did we have a weekend of surprising results and great finishes or what?
I feel pretty badly for Coach Ogre and his fighting Bayou Tigers. Missouri had a late goal line stand and upset LSU 45-41. It likely didn't help LSU that the game was moved to Columbus because they didn't fare well in the Horseshoe.
Now the game was moved due to Hurricane Delta, which is a weird name in itself. I didn't know many girls named Delta other than that ole tub of lard on Designing Women. I do remember my good friend Herb Street talking about hanging around Tri-Delta and sharing mixed drinks with them at a mixer and how having hurricanes would help him go around the world with a Delta. I never really understood Herb.
A goal line stand was key in another game, Tennessee at Georgia. The Vols held off the Bulldogs to maintain a lead at halftime before completely collapsing in the second half. But those who wagered on Tennessee being ahead at halftime were quite thrilled.
Texas A&M had a surprising 41-38 win over the Florida Gators in State College Station. At least with the Big Ten out of action for a while longer the Aggies don't yet have to share their stadium with Penn State.
One of the wilder games took place in Oxford, as Alabama broke a 42-42 tie and pulled away from Ole Southern Miss, 63-48. Bama's D giving up 48 points must have made Nick Satan's head spin around a couple times. And I'm sure Mr. Layla Kiffin was pretty disappointed about coming up short against his Dark Mentor.
The Tide's cross-state rival Auburn had a tight one against R Kansas. The Hogs actually led by a point late in the game. Then Auburn ran a trick play where they pretended to fumble, then their quarterback, Bo Jackson's son Bo Nix, pantomimed throwing the ball into the turf in disgust. This chewed up enough time that the there was only one play left and Auburn promptly kicked a game-winning field goal.
Also in the SEC, the Mississippi State Fighting Pirates had yet another disappointing outing after their offensive explosion at LSU. This time the Kentucky Wildcats held them to a single two-point conversion in a 24-2 victory.
While watching this game I noticed a very strange patch on the Mississippi State players' uniforms. Some of the players had a patch reading "SEC" while others, including quarterback Lou Costello, had one that read "SEC GRADUATE". First off, I'm pleased the league spelled "graduate" correctly. Second, the patch looks like a Purple Heart and probably is as difficult to earn as a Purple Heart. Finally, given that they're now labeling Costello an "SEC graduate" I guess Costello's alma mater Stanford must have left the Pac-8 and joined the SEC. This conference expansion is getting out of control.
There were other battles involving highly rated teams. Notre Dame pulled away from Florida State in the renewal of their long-standing rivalry, 42-26. And Clemson had little trouble with FSU's SEC rival Miami, bombing the Canes 42-17.
My Pitt Panthers had a heartbreaking loss to Boston College. The Pitt kicker made a 58-yard field goal to send the game to overtime then missed an extra point and lost the game.
He wasn't the only kicker to struggle in overtime. Texas had a chance to take the lead vs Oklahoma during the Red River Shootout but "Dicker the Kicker" missed (and OU missed a kick following that). Which is sad, because otherwise Dicker would go down in special teams history alongside Notre Dame legend "Hunter the Punter", Virginia standout "Capper the Snapper", and Michigan luminary "Kovach the Wanker".
After the missed field goals the overtime proceeded to a two-point shootout. Oklahoma made 4 two pointers while Texas was shut out so the Sooners won 53-45. There were some interesting players in the game, Oklahoma had a quarterback named Rattler and also a defender named Isiah Thomas who is the brother of the NBA's Isiah Thomas and the son of basketball legend Isiah Thomas. You'd think an IU basketball star would try to give his kids different names but I guess he's just like George Foreman Grille on that front.
In the ACC North Carolina outlasted Virginia Tech 56-45 in a game that looked like yet another basketball score. Except Virginia Tech wouldn't score 45 points in a basketball game.
Well, that's about all for this week. We are one step closer to the Big Ten deigning to play and, a week after that, we'll see the return of the Song Girls. Can't wait.